by Sophie Stern
Yes.
He cleared his throat, unsure of what to say next. What was there to say? They weren’t going to be a couple, so the truth was that this little moment never should have happened. He should have resisted.
Before today, Christopher only could have imagined what it was like to kiss Allison. Now he knew. He knew what she tasted like, and he knew that he was going to crave her forever after this.
“We should eat,” he whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead. It was an awkward end to a wonderful moment, but he felt as though he’d adequately apologized, and he didn’t want to let the moment get too out of hand. Besides, if he didn’t go to his side of the desk, and if he didn’t sit down, he was going to just kiss her over and over until their clothes came off.
His inner-dragon growled in appreciation.
Christopher wished that guy would shut up.
Christopher went back around the desk and sat down. Allison sat down, too. She reached for her sandwich and took a bite. Christopher opened his and took a bite, too. It was good. Allison had ordered extra pickles on the sandwich – his favorite – and had topped it with black olives. He chewed for a moment, not ready to say anything out loud. He didn’t know what to say out loud.
How could he say anything to the woman who was capturing his heart and soul? Each day they were together, he just found himself wanting more, craving more. He knew that he should be happy with their relationship as it was. Shouldn’t he? He should, probably.
But oh, the idea of sliding his hands up her dress and slowly teasing her panties down was enough to make a guy go crazy. Christopher wondered if Allison even knew how perfect she was. Somehow, he doubted it.
“How is it?” Allison gestured to his sandwich.
“Not as good as you,” he told her honestly.
He hadn’t meant to say it.
Shit.
“Okay,” she nodded slowly, rolling this information around in her head. “So, Christopher...what was that? I mean, not that I’m complaining, but...what was that?”
“The kiss?”
“The kiss.”
What was it?
Perfection.
It had been perfection. That’s what it had been. It had been everything he’d ever wanted in a kiss. Her lips had been perfect, and the way she’d touched him back so gently and tenderly had been absolutely wonderful.
Now, though, she was looking at him like it had been a crazy thing to do. It had. It had been wild and wicked and unplanned. He wasn’t really sure what to do next, but he knew that he wanted more of that. He wanted more kisses with Allison.
Christopher wasn’t the handsomest dragon on Sapphire Island, but he was the one who would take care of her and treat her right if she let him. That’s what he wanted. He wanted a chance to take care of her and to show her just how good things could be. He wanted to show her that he would worship the damn ground she walked on. He’d give her the stars if she would only let him.
Would Allison want to break the rules of the world and date her boss?
Was that something either one of them was ready for?
There would be consequences, and some of them would be hard to deal with. Was he willing to take on that challenge? Was she?
He opened his mouth, but before he could make any vows or promises or ask her on a proper date, the door to his office burst open.
“Mr. Monster!”
They both turned to see McKenzie Frances standing there. McKenzie was a secretary at Monster Brothers Security. She was the one who handled the calls and scheduled the appointments and basically kept the brothers from missing out on important contracts.
She had a desk outside of Christopher’s office so that she could assist him, Brian, and Declan each with their daily activities. Brian and Declan’s offices were just across the hall. While Allison was a professional tech expert and the person who helped Christopher more than anyone else, McKenzie was the “official” secretary for the three owners.
“McKenzie? What’s wrong?” Christopher stood up. He forgot about the sandwich as he took in McKenzie’s disheveled appearance. How was it possible that she looked even more frazzled and frizzy than she usually did? McKenzie was always a little flustered and confused. She had an obvious crush on Christopher’s brother, Brian, and anytime the dragon shifter was close, her hair seemed to frizz even more.
Had Brian been talking to McKenzie today?
Somehow, Christopher seemed to doubt it.
“Everything,” she said. “Everything’s wrong.”
It sounded a bit dramatic to Christopher, but okay. A feeling of relief washed over him as he realized that now, at least he didn’t have to figure out what to say to Allison. If they kept talking, he was going to say something wild and ridiculous. Maybe he’d even say something he regretted. This was a good chance for him to just be normal. He could throw himself into work, and that would solve his problems. It would solve everything because he could push Allison to the backburner like he always did.
“Slow down,” Allison stood, too. “Start from the beginning.”
“You know those...problems...we had this weekend?” McKenzie shot a sly glance toward Allison. Christopher thought he heard Allison make a little growling sound, but that would be crazy.
“Yes, I know.”
“Well, there’s more,” McKenzie said. “Someone got into our personnel files. We’ve been hacked.”
Christopher turned to Allison just in time to see her brow furrow.
Well, shit.
Chapter 4
"I thought security firms being hacked was something that only happened in the movies,” Allison said.
“Sadly, it’s not,” Christopher muttered.
Allison bit her tongue. It took every ounce of self-control not to bitch at him. Why hadn’t Christopher called her over the weekend? She could have helped. That was kind of her job. Oh, she knew what he had said.
He hadn’t wanted to bother her.
That’s what he’d told her.
Only, Christopher never bothered Allison. There was nothing he could possibly do that would bother her.
Now, Allison looked at her boss. A minute ago, she’d been kissing those soft lips and rubbing her body against him like a cat in heat. Apparently, she’d really earned the “kitten” nickname. Not that she would get used to him calling her that, but she wasn’t about to complain.
Christopher Monster could call her kitten any damn day of the week if he wanted to. She was totally, completely okay with that. Her sister might not believe in screwing a guy out of her system anymore, but the idea was starting to seem pretty appealing to Allison. Not that she thought she could screw Christopher out of her system. She had a feeling that if she ever managed to end up in his bed, things would be very, very bad.
They would be wild.
They would be wonderful.
He was the kind of guy she could spent a lifetime having sex with and never grow tired of him. That was the problem. He was too handsome, too kind, and too funny. People around the office were scared of him. Even McKenzie, as she stood before him warning him that the company had been hacked, looked afraid.
And even though she thought it was crappy that he hadn’t called her in over the weekend, she understood what he was saying. Christopher was, in his own, weird way, trying to offer her freedom. She didn’t want it, though. She just wanted him.
“What happened?” Christopher asked McKenzie. His voice was deep and fierce. He’d put on his “work voice,” as Allison had come to think of it. It was very different from the voice he used with her when they were alone.
When it was just the two of them, his voice was gentle, and his words were soft. When it was just them, Christopher seemed to talk like they had secrets. Somehow, he always made her feel like her entire body was on fire.
And he’d kissed her.
When Christopher had pulled back from the kiss, he’d obviously been surprised. So, it hadn’t been planned. That was fine. Allison
didn’t need a relationship with her boss. She didn’t need that complication, even though she kind of wanted it. She’d gone ahead and asked James to the party, and he’d accepted her invitation, and now she’d gone and kissed Christopher.
Oops.
Even though she wasn’t dating James, and she’d made it clear they were only going as friends, she somehow knew perfectly well that James would be annoyed if he found out she had started dating her boss in the meantime. Maybe she should cancel their Christmas party plans.
She wasn’t a flake, but there was part of her that wanted to tell James to forget it, that she’d found someone else to go with. Only, she wasn’t in high school, and she kept her promises. She wasn’t going to invite the new guy and then be mean to him.
James and Allison weren’t a couple. They weren’t dating or involved. They just had a friendship date to the Christmas party, so Allison had done nothing wrong by kissing her boss. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she and Christopher had shared something sort of forbidden and naughty. She wouldn’t mind more of it, either.
“We don’t know,” McKenzie said. Allison turned her attention back toward the woman. “Your brothers are in the conference room, and they want all hands on deck,” McKenzie nodded toward Allison, making it clear that she was to be included this time.
Well, that was nice, at least. Allison was damn good at her job. Everyone knew it. Whether the guys needed help with their social media presence, or they needed assistance coding something, she was excellent at any related to digital media.
“I’m happy to help,” she said.
“Good,” Christopher nodded. “Whatever this thing is that we’re facing, we need to get to the bottom of it.”
Allison knew that Christopher didn’t like being left out of the loop. He didn’t like the idea that he might not know something. She wouldn’t go so far as to call him a control freak, but maybe he was one.
“Let’s get to the conference room,” McKenzie said. “Declan and Brian are heading there now.”
“What about everyone else?” Christopher asked.
“Rebecca and Peter have both been notified. They’ll be there.”
The Monster brothers made it a habit to only hire the very best, and Allison knew that included both Rebecca and Peter. They were in tech, just as she was, and they were very good at what they did. Rebecca was especially good at tracking down solutions to different problems, and she’d proven to be very valuable to the company.
“Allison, we need you,” Christopher turned to her. She was a little surprised that it said it so bluntly.
“Of course,” she whispered.
Anything.
She’d do anything that he wanted because she was so fucking crazy about him that it hurt. She’d spent forever dreaming about Christopher, fantasizing about him, and now? Well, she’d been making out with him less than twenty minutes ago. She’d been kissing him, and she wanted to do it again.
She needed to focus, though. This was sort of her job. The tech stuff, the security stuff...it was all her. That’s why it rankled her, a little bit, that Christopher hadn’t even bothered calling her when there had been a serious breach. He should have. His very first step should have been to give her a ring, but instead, he’d tried to deal with everything on his own.
If he wasn’t so damn cute, she’d be pissed.
“Let’s go,” McKenzie headed out of the office with Christopher and Allison following close behind. They turned in the direction of the conference room. Christopher was so preoccupied that he didn’t even stop to lock his office door. Allison noticed right away.
“Hey,” Allison gestured toward the door. “Don’t you need to lock your door?”
Christopher sighed, as though he couldn’t believe he’d forgotten. Okay, so maybe the dragon man was feeling more than a little bit tense. Yikes. He tossed his keys to Allison, who caught them easily. Then he and McKenzie kept walking.
“Um, okay, whatever,” Allison muttered. She slid the lock in the door and turned it, securing the office. She knew her boss had a lot on his plate.
Christopher wasn’t the type of person who just forgot to lock the door. The company was a security firm that specialized in all sorts of things from home security to office security to computer security, so it was especially important that the “big guys,” as Allison had come to think of the three brothers, keep their doors locked to protect their private spaces.
People could get into a lot of trouble if they could access your computer. Few people knew that as well as Christopher did. He was the most tech-savvy of the three brothers. Allison had come to think of Brian as the brains and Declan as the bronze. Christopher, though, was all hearts and love and cuteness. He was also the most computer-conscious of the three.
“Trouble in paradise?”
Allison spun around to see James standing just a few feet away. She hadn’t even noticed him approach. He was leaning against the wall, watching her lock the door. She pocketed the keys, glad that the dress she’d chosen that day did, in fact, have pockets. Too many clothes designed for women were lacking in that department.
“James, what are you doing here?”
“I work here.”
James worked on the same floor as Allison and the Monster brothers, but his office was down a different hallway. Unless he had specific business with the bosses, he didn’t need to come over here. She was surprised to see him, and if she was being honest, a little irritated, too. She wasn’t ready to talk with him.
The kiss with Christopher was still hot on her mind. She still didn’t know what she was going to do about it. She was excited just thinking about the possibility of a second kiss, but she needed to focus, and that was proving to be so hard right now.
“You work down a different hallway,” Allison reminded James. “Is there a problem you need help with?” She tried to make her voice sound friendly and kind, but the truth was that she wanted him to leave so she could get to work tackling whatever the hacking problem was.
James didn’t seem to mind that Allison was being less-than-friendly. Maybe that was a good thing. James was the kind of person who was resilient. Allison had noticed that although he was new to the company, he was very charismatic, and he had no problem fitting in with the rest of the employees.
Now, he smiled.
“I heard a rumor,” he said, lowering his voice. He looked around, as though trying to make sure they weren’t going to be overheard.
“A rumor?”
“Yeah.”
“Um, okay?”
“Word on the street is that Monster Brothers Security was hacked. Some security company, huh?” James smirked, as though he was some sort of detective who had just solved some sort of unsolvable crime.
Allison had worked with the Monster brothers for a long time. She knew perfectly well that their company was one of the best. If they’d been hacked, it simply meant that the hacker was determined.
Allison felt annoyed.
“I don’t feel like that’s really necessary.”
“What?”
“Making snide comments about the company you work at now.”
“I was just saying,” he shrugged, “maybe they need to focus a little more on the internal aspects of their organization.”
“I think the company is fine, James.”
“And I think that if a company got hacked, maybe they need to do some serious evaluating as to whether their standards are good enough for the shifter world.”
Irritation washed over Allison. Why had she asked James to the party, again? Oh yeah, as a favor. Well, she was regretting that now. He was being kind of a sourpuss, and she wanted to hurry back to Christopher and McKenzie. She wanted to help them figure out what had happened, and she wanted to solve the issue.
She liked the company she worked for. She’d been with them for a long time, and she was part of the team. At least, she had always felt like she was. Christopher had kind of pushed her out this weekend
, but that was just one thing. Maybe he had a good reason for not calling her.
Now, though, James was here, and he was acting like what happened was nothing more than juicy fodder. Well, in Allison’s opinion, the company didn’t need to be gossiped about. That wasn’t how you fixed serious issues.
“Don’t you have a project to work on?” Allison’s voice came out a bit harsher than she intended. James noticed, too. He tensed, staring at her.
“Yes,” he finally nodded, “I suppose that I do.”
“I didn’t mean anything by that,” she said hurriedly, trying to save face. “It’s just that things are a little chaotic over here right now.”
“I get it,” he said, nodding.
“And the project you’re working on is important.”
It was, too. He was helping to develop a new software that was going to make home security even stronger and more impenetrable. James was an expert in the field, and Allison thought he’d been a good choice for the company.
“I’ll see you later,” James said curtly.
Yeah, she’d pissed him off.
Shit.
Maybe she’d been too abrupt or harsh. Allison was usually a pretty friendly person, but she was anxious, and she was tired, and she was a little frustrated with everyone. She’d taken it out on James. That hadn’t been very fair of her.
James turned and left, walking away from Allison. The fact that he’d come by to see what trouble the company was in bothered her very much, but she could have been nicer. She felt embarrassed that she’d been so rude to him.
He was new, she realized, and office gossip was inevitable, but it still bugged her. The idea of gossiping when someone was having a hard time or a crazy day didn’t really sit well with her. She made a mental note to apologize the next time she saw James. It was the least she could do. Maybe she’d be able to salvage their new work friendship. She had to at least try.
She turned and walked away, heading toward the conference room. She tried to stop thinking about James. She had asked him to the party, and even though it was “as friends,” she was going to have to figure out how to survive a whole evening of entertaining him.